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Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Goalie Update: Bruce Boudreau has finally named his playoff starting goalie. As expected, Jose Theodore will be in net Thursday against the Canadiens, with Semyon Varlamov as the backup.

A former Canadien, Jose Theodore has gone 20-0-3 over his last 23 starts. Theodore has not lost a game he started in regulation in 2010. His only regulation loss this year was a 7-4 pounding of the Caps where he came in after Michal Neuvirth was pulled. Theo has been great at Verizon Center when facing the Canadiens, but has been poor when facing them in Bell Centre. It will be interesting to see how he responds to the pressure and crowds.

What Bruce Boudreau had to say, via Tarik El-Bashir (Twitter) and Capitals Insider: "I told Jose last week, and he knew he was gonna be the starter, and he's earned it," Boudreau said. "It's quite a different situation than it was from this year to last year. He's been our guy, and his last loss was early January. Obviously he could lose again, but what people don't realize [about] last year is 10 previous games before going into the playoffs weren't anywhere near what his 10 previous games [have been this year]. There is no short leash. He's the guy we're gonna go with, and see how it goes."